On the use of hardness tests to estimate the extent of plastic deformation

The standard hardness test result is dependent to some extent on the surface condition of the material being assessed. In particular, since the measurement involves permanent deformation of the surface the state of stress or strain in the material will influence the result. Consequently the hardness test may be used as an indicator of prior plastic deformation. The present investigation was concerned with the phenomenon of buckle propagation in undersea pipelines and a theoretical model of the collapse process was developed. The model predicted the extent of the developing plastic zones around the cross-section of the collapsing pipe. Hardness measurements on the cross-sections of collapsed pipe have been used to estimate the extent of the plastic zones and comparisons with the theoretical analysis are given.     

Audiovisual links in endogenous covert spatial attention.

In 7 experiments we investigated cross-modal links for endogenous covert spatial orienting in hearing and vision. Participants judged the elevation (up vs. down) of auditory or visual targets regardless of their laterality or modality. When participants were informed that targets were more likely on 1 side, elevation judgments were faster on that side, even if the modality of the target was uncertain. When participants expected a target on a particular side in Just 1 modality, corresponding shifts of covert attention also took place in the other modality, as evidenced by faster elevation judgments on that side. However, it was possible to "split" auditory and visual attention when targets in the 2 modalities were expected on constant but opposite sides throughout a block, although covert orienting effects were larger when targets were expected on the same side in both modalities. These results show that although endogenous covert attention does not operate exclusively within a supramodal system, there are strong spatial links between auditory and visual attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress analysis of smooth curved tubes with flanged end constraints

A detailed experimental stress analysis programme is described on smooth pipe bends with flanged end constraints loaded under in-plane bending. A 335·6 mm (14 in) diameter steel pipe bend with special adjustable flange type constraints was extensively strain gauged and complete stress distributions were obtained for flanged bend angles of 90° and 180°. Two smaller 114·3 mm ($\text{4}\text{1}\text{2}\text{in}$) diameter flanged steel bends of 90° and 180° but different curvature were also tested.A theoretical development for the stresses in bends bounded by rigid flanges is described and results given for a complete range of geometries. Detailed comparisons are made between the theory and experiments and the agreement is good.     

Negative and positive components of psychological masculinity and femininity and their relationships to self-reports of neurotic and acting out behaviors.

Negatively valued masculinity (M–) and femininity (F–) personality scales were developed to supplement the positively valued Masculinity (M+) and Femininity (F+) scales of J. T. Spence and R. L. Helmreich"s (1978) Personal Attributes Questionnaire. (M–) consisted of traits that had been judged to be (a) more typical of males than females, (b) undesirable in both sexes, and (c) agentic or instrumental in content. Two (F–) scales were developed, both containing stereotypically feminine, undesirable traits, one set of traits referring to communionlike characteristics and the other to verbal passive–aggressive qualities. In 220 male and 363 female undergraduates significant sex differences in the predicted direction were found on all scales. In both sexes, low and nonsignificant correlations were found between parallel positive and negative scales, but highly significant negative correlations were found between positive and negative cross-sex scales. Findings provide additional evidence for the multidimensionality of masculinity and femininity. Scores on a self-esteem measure were positively correlated with M+ and F+, uncorrelated with M–, and negatively correlated with the F– scales. Different patterns were associated with 2 types of problem behaviors. Neuroticism was most highly correlated (negatively) with M+, and acting out behavior was most strongly correlated (positively) with M–. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-consistent calculations of elastic constants of polycrystalline graphite

This paper reports the application of a self-consistent integral equation technique to the calculation of the elastic constants of polycrystalline graphite. The self-consistent expressions used in this paper are restricted to spherical grains and pores and neglect correlation among grains and pores. A model of graphite based upon the assumption that the grains are cracked crystals was used with the self-consistent expressions to account for the elastic constants of three isotropic or mildly anisotropic graphites to within approximately 6% and for the elastic constants of a more anisotropic graphite to within approximately 20%.     

A new look at vigilance and defense.

2 hypotheses were tested: (a) "Threatening tachistocopic stimuli are recognized at thresholds both higher and lower than thresholds for matched control words. The extent of deviation is related to degree of anxiety induced by the threat"; and (b) "When the associated anxiety is removed, then threshold deviations diminish. The degree of reduction is related to the decrease in anxiety." 22 adults of mixed sexes served as Ss. 2 matched lists of words were presented in an anagram-solving exercise. One list was constructed to produce failure. When all words were presented tachistoscopically for a second time, it was found that anxiety aroused by the failure correlated significantly with the absolute difference between recognition thresholds for failure and control words. This relationship persisted even after the artificial nature of the anxiety had been explained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electron diffraction from laser-aligned beams of large hydrated molecules

We consider X-ray or electron diffraction from a molecular beam of hydrated proteins. These are aligned by the polarized field of a powerful continuous infrared laser. The laser power, temperature and molecular size needed to obtain sufficient alignment accuracy for sharp diffraction patterns is estimated using a thermal average, and the resulting Dawson integral compared with the estimate based on equipartition used in our previous work. The conditions determined allow sub-nanometer resolution charge-density maps to be reconstructed from phased diffraction patterns, so that the secondary structure of the proteins can be observed.     

N2O emissions from streams in the Neuse river watershed, North Carolina

We present N2O emission data from 11 sites in the Neuse River watershed. Emissions were measured using a static surface enclosure technique deployed on eight sites on the main river channel and three tributary sites. Ancillary data collected included dissolved oxygen, nitrate, total nitrogen, ammonium, dissolved organic carbon, total phosphorus, and temperature. Analysis using standard linear models, and classification and regression trees (CART), indicated nitrate to be the primary driving variable associated with N2O emission, although dissolved organic carbon concentration and water temperature were positively related with N2O emission as well. Relationships between nitrate concentration and N2O emission were consistent with those found in previous studies, although the data presented here represent the lower end of the range for both variables among published studies. Using our measured N2O emission rates along with literature values for the ratio of nitrogen gas to N2O produced during denitrification, we estimate N loss via denitrification in the Neuse River is approximately 17% of the annual N load delivered to the estuary.